Life and politics from the Sunshine State's best city

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney collected one of the largest hauls of last quarter, according to recently submitted compensation reports: The white shoe firm’s Tallahassee lobbying practice earned an estimated $1.14 million between April 1 and June 30 of 2015.

The largest contributor to the firm’s bottom line in Q2? U.S. Sugar Corp. by a mile. It doubled up the next highest-paying client, paying $76,000 for legislative lobbying services and between $30,000-$39,999 for executive branch work, for a total of some $111,000.

Auto insurance giants Progressive Insurance Co. and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. each compensated the firm within the $30,000-$39,999 range for legislative work during Q2, on top of some $5,000 each in executive fees for a total of roughly $80,000 all told.

Carahsoft Technology also pitched between $30,000-$39,999 for executive agency lobbying, followed by Concordia Behavioral Health, Florida League of Cities, National Strategies, Tableau Software and The Arc of St. Lucie County as the firm’s largest executive invoices, aside from U.S. Sugar.

Together, those interests accounted for around $75,000 in Q2 fees.

Other significant clients of the lobby shop anchored by Tally stalwarts Mac Stipanovich and Jim MacGill last quarter included several Florida cities — like Fort Myers, Ormond Beach, Palm Coast and South Daytona — as well as huge national companies like McDonald’s, Avis, and the ever-present Dosal Tobacco Corp.

“White hat” interests like Habitat for Humanity, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Special Olympics of Florida also peppered the firm’s Q2 client list.

State law requires lobbying firms to submit compensation reports quarterly. They are permitted in most cases to simply report an approximate range of client compensation — e.g., $1-$9,999 — in lieu of the specific dollar amount.

Ryan Ray writes about campaigns and public policy in Tampa Bay and across the state. A contributor to FloridaPolitics.com and before that, The Florida Squeeze, he covers the Legislature as a member of the Florida Capitol Press Corps and has worked as a staffer on several campaigns. He can be reached at ryan@floridapolitics.com.